It’s amazing how much people get away with indulging in unhealthy practices in life and still feel perfectly fine. But then, even if the feeling is alright now if you are smoking despite the dangers of smoking, you are causing health damage to yourself in many ways.
Some of these damages are unseen and some that may not show up for many years. Smoking of any kind is dangerous to your health.
25 Dangers of Smoking: The following are a few of the possible health disadvantages of smoking.
- Mood alterations
- Dependence
- Addiction
- Chronic bronchitis
- Emphysema
- Chronic Obstructive pulmonary disease
- Cancer of the lungs
- Damage to blood vessels
- Elevated blood pressure
- Thromboembolism
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Skin cancers
- Greying
- Balding
- Mouth cancer
- Diabetes, especially type 2
- Affects sexual performance (erectile dysfunction)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Cleft lip palate
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Increase risk of respiratory tract infections
- Fertility issues
- Colon cancer
- Ectopic pregnancy
How to Stop Smoking
Having said that, you can quit. Stopping smoking is one of the most important decisions you will make when you start noticing the adverse health effects of smoking.
It could also be a personal decision to avoid getting to a stage where the health implications of smoking would start manifesting.
The following are a few steps that can help you in planning and kickstarting your journey toward quitting smoking.
- Know Your Why Of Quitting – Knowing why you need to quit smoking, which is your goal, is the first step to achieving results. It could be the health benefits you stand to get. It could be medical advice from your healthcare provider.
It could also be that you don’t want your kids to see you smoking. It may also be that you want to protect your relationship. Your why could also be on the religious or spiritual ground?
Your goal of wanting to stop smoking could as well be because of personal research you have made and finding you got from your research
- Engage Your Doctor – Talk to your Doctor as they will be able to guide and counsel you on health effects, why quit smoking and possible withdrawal effects that may follow for some people.
Your Doctor (healthcare provider) may have to prescribe medications for possible withdrawal effects. It is not advisable to do self-prescription for withdrawal effects if you happen to notice them.
- Prepare For The First Day. Smoking is challenging so is quitting. You can abruptly stop smoking, reduce the frequency till you are ready to quit and then quit. Hence, having a quitting date can be helpful.
- Consider Non-Nicotine Medications: Bupropion (Zyban) and Varenicline (Chantix) have been approved by FDA to help smokers quit.
- See a Psychiatrist or Psychologist: It is challenging to quit smoking because of its physical and emotional dependence. Your Psychiatrist or Psychologist would be of great help if it becomes difficult to do it alone.
Finally, if you want to quit and avoid the dangers of smoking, get help. Surround yourself with others who don’t smoke and those who smoke and are determined to quit smoking.
Act like you’re a non-smoker by filling your time with activities that will take your attention away from smoking. I do believe that it is beneficial to stop smoking.
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